


Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall

by pixieron



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Hurt Diego Hargreeves, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Hurt/Comfort, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixieron/pseuds/pixieron
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy reconnaissance. In and out. No one would be there. Easy as a Peanut butter and Marshmellow sandwich.But nothing would ever go right for Diego and Five.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever fanfic! Ever!
> 
> This is sort of an experimental fic, i tried to make it more lighthearted, but unfortunately I can't. 
> 
> Maybe I'll add chapter 2?
> 
> May you all have a blessed 2021!

It was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance.

30 mins. Max. Easy. Get in, they'd steal some info about some rogue Commission people, then get out.

Well, that was according to the Time and Space's Best Assassin anyway.

Everything would always go right for the Hargreeves, right?

Wrong.

The Umbrella Academy might be good, but in their current predicament, Diego was out of knives, and Five was out of jumps.

_Shit._

Numbers Two and Five were fighting the remaining two men. They were probably taller and heavier than Luther..on steroid or some pumped up chemical or some bad mojo juice. And the brothers were losing. Badly. 

_Shit!_ Diego thought when one of the men was pinning him down on the floor by his neck, choking him. Lucky for Diego, he could hold his breath for a long time. However, unluckily for Diego, the guy was actually trying to break his neck. _Damnit._

"-Five!" He tried calling for his brother.

Five quickly looked over, with a crowbar in his hands, then continued hitting his opponent in his stomach with the metal.

"Shit! One second, Diego!" Five said, while hitting the much bigger man again and again. 

Seeing Five struggling to bring the other guy down, Diego tried his best to kick the man off him. Or at least to release the man's hold over his neck. Unfortunately for Diego, with blood loss from a stab wound and the guy kneeing him at the same exact spot, it was not an easy task.

The knee went deeper into his wound. Diego bit his lips, not giving any satisfaction to his opponent. He clawed weakly at the man's face, although the action was futile.

Suddenly, he saw Five flying across his vision into the man straddling him, with a crowbar in his hand.

 _He was free!_ He took a deep breath (technically he didn't need to, but he did anyway) and massaged his neck softly. He could've broken his neck. _B_ _astard._

He looked over, to the man who was fighting his brother previously. He was obviously dead, bleeding from his face, nose, neck and eyes, and his neck, bleeding, and at an odd angle. 

"Jesus, Five," he whispered. He forgot how brutal his brother could be. 

_His neck, did Five j-_

"Oof-" followed by a sound of a crowbar hitting a body. 

Diego turned to look at his brother. Five was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, his hand on his side. The other man was now smugly holding the crow-

_Shit! What the hell happened?_

The man brought down the crowbar to Five's head. Five's eyes grew wide, _Shit!_ , and threw his arm over his head to stop the motion. But the man was too strong for him and the crowbar hit his arm and head with a loud thunk.

"No! Five!". Diego got up and quickly hit the back of the agent's knee, attempting to bring him down. In the turn of event, it was Diego's turn now to _choke the shit out of him,_ he thought smugly. Out of the corner of his eyes, Five was surprisingly still awake, eyes blinking slowly, holding his bleeding head with his uninjured arm. Slowly, he moved his eye to meet Diego's, then he nodded, preparing to get up. Diego also nodded, reluctantly.

 _That stubborn, stupid, pigheaded asshole,_ he mused distractly.

Suddenly, an elbow hit the side of his head. He gasped with a surprise and released his chokehold and fell to the floor.

 _Damnit, this is Five's fault!_ _. Definitely his fault._ Diego thought angrily. Black boots began kicking his chest, and Diego tried his best to curl and protect his ribs. _it will be easy, like Peanut butter and marshmellow, in and out. 30 mins tops!_ he continued his musings, mocking Five. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his ribs. _Arghh!_ _Great! Now his ribs are probably broken! God damnit!._ he breathed frantically, curling even more, trying his best not to scream.

"Diego! Shit!" he heard Five screamed, "-get off him!". Like a monkey, Five jumped on his attacker's back. His bloody fingers clawing at the man's eyes, an attempt to blind the bigger man. 

The kicking stopped. Diego opened his eyes. One of Five's fingers managed to scratch his eye bloody. 

"Why, you little-!" the large man screamed. He reached backwards and pulled Number Five's hair, and threw him forward.

With a thud, Five landed on stomach, moaning weakly. The agent noticed the forgotten crowbar and bent over to take it. He smirked and walked slowly to the fallen Five. 

"I thought it'd be harder to defeat the Great Number Five," the man boasted. He kicked Five in the stomach, flipped him over and sat him against the wall. 

Diego, still laying on the floor, cradling his ribs, looked at his smaller brother anxiously. He didn't look good. Blood was freely flowing down his face and his injured arm, his eye was beginning to swell, slowly blinking, half closed. Like he was fighting to stay conscious. 

They needed to leave. Right now. Five needed help. He himself needed help. 

"Argh!" The agent screamed. His eyes were wide open as the agent hit the side of Five's head with the crowbar. The smaller boy's eyes rolled up. With a soft breath, he fell sideways against the wall, new blood flowing down the new wound. 

Diego looked around with a panic, trying to find something to ....to.... _shit_!. His 13-year old brother just got hit in the head with a crowbar twice. 

_There!_ A few metres from him, was a dead body with a knife in his eyes. _Freaking Hell, Five._ He quickly crawled to take it off the dead man. Silently, he threw it to the remaining agent. _cmon! Hit his neck!_ _Fuck!_ His knife plunged into the agent's shoulder instead. 

He looked at Five laying on the floor bleeding, and thought to himself, _fuck it._ With a burst of energy (or rather adrenaline), he got up on both his feet and ran to the man. Diego kneed him in the groin and both began wrestling, rolling on the floor.

This time, however, luck was on Diego's side, _Thank God!_ as his hand found the knife. Quickly and with a scream, he pulled it out, and brought it down in to the man's chest. Again. And again. With a hoarse "Fuck you!," Diego thrusted his knife down one last time, into his heart.

Shakily, with a deep breath, he crawled slowly to his brother and moved him into his lap.

Five was a mess. His head wounds were still bleeding. Diego had a right to be worried. A crowbar to a 13 year old boy's head ( _he could hear Five correcting him, HIS consciousness is 58),_ could lead to concussion? Fractured skull? 

"Five, wake up!," Diego whispered, softly tapping his brother's cheek. Five was still out, but his face was scrunched in pain.

"Five! C-c-c-mon," in his stress, he began stuttering. "W-wa-wak-wake up,"

 _Shit!_ He could try carrying his smaller brother, but with his injured ribs?

 _How about we leave him here and get his car first, bring it closer?_ His thoughts suggested. 

_Good idea..but how about we leave him here._ Wait, what. And why did his thought sound like Klaus.

 _No, bad idea. Let's not leave our brother here._ Luther?

 _Five's gonna panic if he wakes up alone. No, carry him with you._ Allison? Diego wondered.

 _Both of you need to come home quickly. Pretty sure your car is not that far...but hurry._ A soft-spoken voice sounded like Vanya.

He looked around, half expecting his siblings to be here. But there were only him and Number Five. Great, now his head couldn't think coherently and was halluncinating. Gah, his head and chest hurt.

With an urgency and a deep breath, he put one arm under his brother's shoulder and another under his knees. Slowly, he began to carry him out of the place. 

Diego was in pain. Everytime he inhaled or everytime he moved, it felt like someone was stabbing him. 

_Mind over freaking matter, bitch._

He began walking towards his car. _Why did he agree to park his car so far! Damnit, he should've not listen to his brother._ _Next time, he would make his oldest youngest brother listen to him! That shitheel._

One step. 

Another step.

Deep breath. He could feel Five's blood flowing down his arms 

One more step. His body began to shake. In exhaustion. In pain.

_C'mon, a few more steps!_

One more st-

His foot hit the side of his car. Quickly, he searched for his keys while one arm holding Five.

_Finally, something went right!_

Diego opened his car door and gently laid his brother across the backseat. Checking to see his brother was still breathing, he then took the First Aid kit under the passenger seat. 

"Okay, Five, I need you to stop bleeding all over my seat," With that, he took a piece of gauze and dabbed it on the bleeding wounds. He looked worried. When would the bleeding stop?

Tenderly, Diego wrapped Five's head with a bandage. At least it should stop the bleeding, right? Satisfied with his quick work, he went to the driver's seat and started the engine. He looked at the rearview mirror and said to the unconscious boy, "Let's get you home,"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm not a good writer, unfortunately. So, i'd like to apologise for that lack of talent. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

It was 3 o'clock in the morning and Klaus was roaming around the mansion. He missed Ben's companionship, following him around, nagging him around. But alas, he was not coming back. Now, his companions were either the ghosts of the mansions, sometimes they were his brother Five's ghosts, screaming in his ears about how they were "unjustly murdered."

Tonight, however, Klaus was not in the mood. He was tired, cranky, _lonely._ His siblings Luther, Allison and Vanya were in the West Coast for various reasons. Allison for Claire. Or filming. Or maybe both? Luther, maybe just visiting Allison, while Vanya joined an orchestra, currently performing there. _Good for Vanya,_ Klaus thought.

But the house was quiet. Normally about this time, Mr Vigilante would be barging in the house. And occasionally, with Five on tow. _The unfriendly neighbourhood watch,_ mused Klaus. But he needed someone to be with him. Preferably an alive person.

As he walked, he decided to stop at his smallest brother's room, and thought, screw it, as he knocked on the door. 

No answer. 

"Hmmkay, Five, I'm coming in," said Klaus whined loudly, not caring if he woke up the little gremlin from his sleep. He needed a companion. The little man would do. For now.

Slowly he opened the door. "Hey Fi-", he stopped. The bed was empty, not being slept on. Crumpled papers all over the floor, a lot of coffee mugs on the study table. Dammit, Five was surely a mess. Maybe he did follow Diego out.

 _Maybe Klaus could join them next time? It would be a great time to, y'know, be closer to his brothers._ With a sigh, and a pang of jealousy, he walked towards the bar, hoping to take the edge off, just for tonight.

Klaus was deep in his thoughts, with a drink in his hand, when he heard the front door opened with a BANG! "Finally, they're back", Klaus thought solemnly as he walked towards the noise.

"Mom!" Diego screamed.

"What happened?" asked Klaus, eyes opened with shock as he saw Number Two carrying Five, with blood all over their clothes. Five looked worst off, with bandage wrapped around his head, and God, blood all over his white dress shirt. If Diego weren't starring daggers at Klaus, breathing heavily, he would think Five was dead, another ghost haunting him.

"Long story, no time. We need to go to the infirmary", Diego huffed quickly while adjusting Five in his arms.

 _Five was skins and bones, but he was quite heavy_ , Diego thought, his body already shaken and his adrenaline was starting to diminish.

KLAUS!

Klaus jumped. Good, he seemed to have broken whatever spell he was in. He put his glass down and helped his brother carrying Five into the infirmary. 

"Are you okay, Diego?", asked Klaus once they gently laid Five on the bed. "Is Five okay?", he began to feel concerned with his unmoving brother. "what happened to you-"

"Klaus, can you get Mom? Now. Sorry, but Five need-, just go find her", Diego interrupted softly, hands softly tapping Five's cheeks, attempting to rouse him. "Please.", he continued. 

Klaus had never seen Diego unhinged like this before. The two brothers often clashed and butted heads ever since they were young, and the concerned face Diego was showing, made Klaus shiver a bit, and he nodded. Quickly, he left the room to find their mother.

\--------------------

He dreamt of fire. And heat. He looked around and saw buildings destroyed, charred and burnt bodies everywhere. Inwardly, he wondered what could have caused such a catastrophic event? Where was everybody else? Was he the only survivor? 

Curiously, he started walking around, hoping for someone..just someone. He cannot be the only survivor, right? With a quickened pace, he began shouting, "Hello? Anybody?" 

_Hey._

He stopped abruptly and looked around. _Weird._ He shrugged it off when an intact hand on the ground caught his eyes. He didnt know why but he thought it was important. As he walked slowly to the body, he looked around and saw four more bodies, buried under rubbles of bricks and rocks. Sadness and grief flowed over him, but he didn't know why.

_You're okay. Here drink this._

Standing by the bodies, he thought to himself, Who were these people? He didn't understand. Were they...... Were they important to him? He sat next to the large man, hand clutching a bloody eye, as if his life depended on it.

The bloody eye.

Something about this eye, he felt angry, betrayed, he wanted to chuck it away, crush it with his hands... but why?

He winced when the sun ray reflected into his eyes. 

_Sorry, sorry, let me switch the light off._

After keeping the eye in his pocket, he walked to the body of another man, face down, with knives attached to his clothes. A few metres away, was a woman, with curly hair.

He stood up, and began searching for other bodies, to provide him with any clues of who they were. To him. He stopped when he came across another man, eyes opened staring him, and he had a tattoo of an umbrella.

_Who was this man?_

_Who were they?_

_Who.....Who was he?_

_Where was he?_

_What happened?_

He couldnt remember anything. The last thing he remembered was.....was......arghh, this was so frustrating! 

_-no no stop! Shit, - he's going to..... He's gonna make it worse! Help me._

_Lower your voice. He's hurt and confused. Just be gentle with him, okay?_

Gah! His head hurt. It felt like his head split open. He dropped down next to the body, clutching his head with both his hands, pulling his hair Breathe in, breathe out. Just like his mom taught him. And...taught....

Wait.. .he also had the same tattoo. What did it mean? Were they a team?

He quickly stood up, _whoa dizzy_ , and ran back to the other bodies and checked each of their wrists. They all had the same umbrella tattoos. _What?_

_WHAT?! WHY COULDN'T HE REMEMBER!_

it was like a nightmare he couldnt remember. He could feel like, at the edge of his tongue, but the thoughts escaped him. It frustrated him. 

HIs head was in pain, spinning badly. His stomach was churning. Suddenly, his knees buckled and he started dry heaving on the ground.

_Quick, the bucket!_

His body was shaking as he continued to empty his already-empty stomach. Tears streaming his face. Not only due to the pain, but he felt a sense of loss, regret, love, hate, grief, all jumbled up into a ball of emotion, hitting him from all sides.

As he laid down on the rubble, turned away from the vomit, he began wondering about his life. He closed his eyes and tried to picture it. All he got was....nothing. A blank white of nothing. But the umbrella tattoo..there must be some significance to that umbrella!

He opened his eyes and pulled his body into a sitting position. He looked at the nearest body, hoping it would jostle his memory. 

"Who are you?" he asked, quietly, to no one. 

_What?_ _W_ _hat did he say?_

_I think he was asking.... Hmm...maybe I heard him wrong._

With a small burst of strength, he got up and walked to the last body, to the man with a short curly hair, tattoos of Hello and Goodbye visible on his hands. He chuckled quietly, thinking about the rather unusual tattoos. As if umbrella tattoos were not weird enough. 

He began to feel frustrated. He had lost his memories, something happened to the world, everyone died, and somehow only he had survived, and was unscathed. 

Glancing at the body, he asked again, "Who are you?". His hands gently touching the dead man's cold cheeks, a sense of sadness towards this man.

 _What?_ _It's me - I'm your - can you hear me? I'm getting worried. Should we get him to-_

Suddenly, he was tired. Very tired. He was getting dizzier by the second, and couldnt figure out which way was up and which was down. He felt his body fall backwards to the body and couldn't stop it. He closed eyes, perhaps it would lessen the pain and dizziness. Just for a while. 

\-----

He woke up, and jumped slightly, when he felt hands touching his face, gently. He could hear a voice but he could not figure out what it was saying. Slowly he opened his eyes. Hmm.. It was dark. And he guessed he was still all alone?

He must've been really tired to have slept that long! And his mind might be playing tricks on him. He took a deep breath. In. And out. Okay, his head was still in pain, still dizzy, but, he sighed, not as bad as before he had fallen asleep. Or passed out. 

"Maybe it's better if I die."', he thought randomly.

 _Hey, don't say that!_ Hmm, the voice sounded angry. Why was the voice angry?

 _Im not...._ , a shaky breath and a sigh, _I'm not angry, I promise_. _Just don't ever say that, please._

Great, now he had made the voice in his head upset. Could he ever do anything right? 

Maybe it would be better if he died. The world was destroyed. No one had survived, except for him. A miracle? Or a curse? Why was he spared? What was so special about him? He thought about it, hard. He couldn't survive long. Sooner rather than later, he would run out of food, run out of water. It would be a long excruciating death and suffering. 

And the four bodies with the umbrella tattoos. 

He loved them. 

He hated them. 

He cared about them. 

He wanted them to be alive, here with him

He couldn't do this alone

_Yes, you can._

Yeah, well, he didn't want to.

And he closed his eyes. 

\---------------- 

Diego was removing Five's shoes and socks when Mom entered the infirmary, a smile forever plastered on her face. Klaus came in a hurry, few seconds later, clumsily hitting the door frame. 

"Ow. Shit, I'm too drunk for this. Too drunk! and this is NOT how I wanna spend my night," whined Klaus loudly. "Or morning. Ugh," he continued. 

"Klaus.....! " Diego warned, and pointed to their unmoving brother on the bed. 

"Hello, Diego dear." Grace enquired. "Oh, Five....What happened?" as she moved her hands to Five's face.

She began to use her scanning programme to check Five's injuries. Once she received the results, she would begin to administer painkillers in Five. 

"Mom. We got into a fight with some bad guys. Some guy hit him with a crowbar a few times. His head was bleeding badly. I think he got hit in his chest too?" explained Number Two to Grace.

Adrenaline began leaving him. Diego began swaying badly, from bloodloss, from tiredness, and started to lean heavily on Klaus. 

"Uh Diego, you don't look so hot." Klaus was squinting his eyes. "Let Klaus take care of you. Here, sit down," said Klaus, leading his brother to a nearby 3-seater sofa, forcing him to _lay down, before you fall down._

While their mother was assessing Five's injuries, Klaus took the additional first aid kit and began to attend to Diego. Despite Klaus claiming to be" too drunk", he was surprised that he was actually able to think carefully. Maybe his "drunkeness threshold" had increased, or the shock of being his brothers injured in a fight, or the fact that he has served in Vietnam, and the vet/soldier Klaus took over. 

"Where are you hurt, Diego?" he asked seriously. 

Diego, still concerningly looking at Five, snorted loudly at Klaus' question. And jumped slightly when Klaus snapped his fingers to draw his attention. 

"Hey, brother, listen, any needs for stitches? Broken anything? Where and what. List them." Klaus continued in a serious tone, arms on his hips. 

Diego turned to look at the Seance. Klaus looked as if he were controlled? possessed? by another person. Someone responsible, competent, serious and knowledgeable. Diego loved (sometimes) his brother, but Klaus was nothing of the above. He was always high, made jokes about everything, not taking anything seriously. 

But maybe Klaus had changed. Maybe Vietnam changed him. He could think rationally and seriously when the situation called him for it. 

_Good for you, Klaus._

_"_ Yeah sorry, sorry. Stab wound here. The neck bruised, i think, from......umm..." he stopped uncomfortably, "and my ribs, I think nothing is broken, yup, but it still hurt a bit," Diego took a deep breath, and confirmed that his ribs weren't broken, maybe just sore and bruised. 

As Diego was laying on the sofa uncomfortably, his eyes drifting to a close. Klaus sat on an extra chair and began to clean the blood off Diego's head and face, while humming to himself quietly. 

As Klaus was attending to Diego, Mom was gracefully cleaning up and stitching Five's head wounds, muttering a tut. He might still be out, but his face was squinting in pain. She stopped stitching to look at the boy. 

With a sad smile, she continued treating him.

\----------------

It was a few hours later when Klaus woke up, still feeling tired from yesterday's, no.... _this morning's_ event. He fell asleep in a chair, sitting between his two brothers. He must have drifted off watching Mom and Five at some point. He turned to his right and saw Diego was still sleeping. Same as Five. Except Five had a change of clothes, and a brand new bandage wrapped around his head. 

Klaus' stomach grumbled loudly. He was pretty hungry, and _what time was it anyway?,_ he thought to himself. _And why is there no clock in this room,? Jesus._ He got up from his chair, and began stretching, quietly, to not wake up his brothers...........

Or so he thought.

A few seconds later, Diego began stirring from his sleep. _Damn it. At least he tried._

Klaus stood there awkwardly, waiting for Diego to say something. Right. Nothing.

"Heeeeey, Diego," he said in a cheerful manner. "I'm going to the kitchen for some food and drinks. Do you want anything?" 

Diego just stared at Klaus, his face unreadable. He blinked a few times and started mumbling something under his breath. 

Klaus, still standing there, between Diego and Five, asked again, "Diego. Anything?". He watched as Diego struggled to sit up on the sofa. 

"What the hell happened?", asked Diego, tiredly. Why did he feel like shit? 

"Oh, boy. You don't remember?" Klaus answered, while taking a deep breath. "You and Five went fighting somewhere and someone and came back like....like you both had lost. Badly". 

Crap. Diego stiffened. Eyes wide open.

He couldn't believe that he forgot last night's event. And where was Five? 

As if he could read Diego's mind, Klaus reassured him that their smallest brother was fine (well, whatever "fine" means in their dictionary anyway).

He started walking out of the room and stated loudly to Diego, "I'm gonna get us some breakfast and water. I'll ask Mom to..umm...., I'll just ask her to....," he sighed.

Why was this so awkward! Then he left without a word. 

\-----

Klaus returned to the infirmary with a tray of bread, tea and scrambled eggs. Diego and him were both eating their late breakfast (or early lunch) as Grace was explaining that Five had required some stitches in his head, and some parts of his body and arm. 

"He has a very bad concussion and bruises on his head and other parts of his body. Thankfully, no skull fractures. But one of his ribs was fraftured, and he dislocated his wrist." Grace, still smiling, informed them of Five's conditions. "He will be fine. Just needs a lot of rest."

 _And high-grade painkillers.. But the old man is a stubborn bastard. Him? Resting? Sure, when pigs fly, Klaus thought cynically_.

"And as for you Diego dear, nothing seriously damaged on your neck, just some bruising. Maybe you'll have some difficulty in swallowing food and water. For your ribs, hairline fracture. We've wrapped your ribs, same as Five, to minimise movements. No internal bleeding, just bruises coming up. You too, also need some rest." Grace continued.

Klaus snorted loudly.

_Yup, never gonna happen._

_\--------------_

A few hours later, both Klaus and Diego were having a quiet conversation next to Five's bed when his fingers started to twitch. He slowly opened his eyes, as if it were the most difficult thing to do, then closed them back. 

This happened a few times throughout the day. Their smallest brother would open his eyes. His eyes, Klaus thought, sometimes they were sad, sometimes they looked scared, horrified. 

_Like being stuck in a nightmare._

Diego felt frustrated. When Diego was frustrated, Klaus would also reflect the same emotion, with less intensity. 

\-------

Diego fell into a light fitful sleep. The lights were off, it was dark, calm, perfect condition for him to sleep. Then again maybe because it was nighttime, or he was tired, or the painkillers his Mom gave him. Or maybe all three.

He startled awake when he heard a small whine coming from the bed. Some time during the night, Five developed a fever, and Grace had given him some medicines to make sure the temperature didnt go up.

Diego walked to sit in the chair next to Five. He turned to look at Klaus, he desperately wished for Klaus to get some ice or cold water from the kitchen. But he was sleeping, snoring, _loudly,_ on the sofa across the room. 

_Poor bastard, must've been tired._ It was indeed a long 2 days. 

Returning his concentration back to Five, he realised that he was still sleeping, but at the same time, not really. He could see the eyes of rolling his eyelids. He was beginning to breathe heavily, and made some soft noise. 

_Like he was running from something. Or came across something. Like he was dreaming of the apocalypse_ , Diego thought.

There had been a few incidents, where the whole household was waken up by Five screaming murder from his nightmares. Either it was from the apocalypse, or witnessing his siblings multiple deaths. 

"Hey," said Diego softly, trying to wake Five up from his nightmare. His hands holding Five's face to stop him from moving, and ruining the stitches. _Five felt warm._

 _"_ Nightmare again, huh?"

Diego jumped at that voice in the dark

"Jesus, Klaus! Don't scare me like that!", he said angrily. And, dammnit, he was Diego, he didnt jump. And he was not proud of that jump.

They turned to pay attention back to Five, who was making this sad whimpering noise, beginning to trash his bed. 

Klaus tapped Five's cheeks in an attempt to rouse him from sleep, and whispered soothing, calming words for his brother. Diego limped to the table and brought a glass of water nearer to the bed.

"He needs to drink this." Said Diego, and then he handed the glass to Klaus.

"Thanks. Hey Five." tap tap tap.."wake up, you're okay." And when Five suddenly started crying softly, both the bigger siblings were awkwardly at loss.

 _This is weird. What do we do?_ Diego just stood there staring at Five. 

Klaus, as the more emotional man, sat on the bed with the smaller boy, and pulled him up into a hug-ish, holding a glass of cool water.

"Five, heyyyyy, you're okay," he said, trying to calm him down. "Here, drink this", and put the glass to his mouth and coaxed him into drinking it.

The moonlight shone inside the room, but it was still too dark for the brothers to navigate around the room.

Five was slightly calmer than before, _well he had stopped crying and hyperventilating, but yes, calmer,_ his eyes closed but his fists were clenched tightly. 

_Click._ Diego switched on the small lamp next to the bed to see Five's conditions clearer.

Five winced loudly, turned his face away from the light in an instance, eyes closed, and hands holding his head in pain.

Klaus just stared judgingly at Diego, and shook his head.

"Wha-, oh, fine. Fine! sorry, sorry, let me switch the light off," Diego commented, ashamed.

"Some people, Five, don't think about other people." Klaus said to the now-sleeping Five. "Like our brother, Diego here, he knows you're having a head injury, and still turned on the brightest lamp in the galaxy."

Diego just glared at him with a soft comment _asshole._

Klaus just smirked. 

\----------

Numbers Two and Four were enjoying their light snacks when, without warning Five suddenly sat up, eyes searching but wide opened.

"Ahh, Jesus alive!, you scared the shit out of me," screamed Klaus, spilling food all over the floor. Hands holding his chest, as if he were having a heart attack. 

_Klaus and dramatics,_ mused Diego. He quickly kept his food and limped towards the bed. 

Five was still having this confused face, looking around the room, _and his brothers,_ with no recognition. And he was starting to breathe heavily and faster. 

All of a sudden, his hands grasped his head began pulling the bandages and his hair. And god, he was making this upsetangrydespairconfusedfrustrated noise. it was getting louder and more upsetting. And physically, he was getting more violent. More trashing.

Diego, being the nearest to Five, took a hold of Five's arms. To take them away from his injured head.

"FIVE!!!!", Diego was shouting loudly, his voice vibrating through the room. "STOP, FIVE! I AM NOT HURTING YOU,".

But the effect was opposite from what Diego had intended. Instead, his brother, a stubborn 58 year old man in a 13 year old body, fought with a surprising amount of strength. And he began to kick Diego like his life depended on it.

"Klaus! C'mere! We need to hold him down. Five! No, no-Uff," Five managed to kick Diego in the groin. "Shit, Klaus, just leave the food!. He's going to tear out his stitches! Hey, stop it! He's gonna make it worse! Can you, god damn it, just help me!".

Diego too was frustrated, and getting constantly kicked by a 13 year old 58 year old boy actually hurt. He was gonna have bruises in a few days. Fun.

Klaus sighed, and rolled his eyes. _And he said I'm the dramatic one._

"Rule number one, Diego. Lower your voice. Shouting like an caveman is not going to make-...it's-look you're scaring him. He's hurt and confused. Just...don't hold his hands too hard. Be gentle with him, okay?," Klaus said to Diego while sitting behind a still-kicking-at-Diego Number Five.

Klaus gently rubbed Five's back and shoulders to calm him down. 

_crack!_ Suddenly Klaus was feeling pain in his face, and his nose. Especially his nose. His nose was bleeding. He could not believe it, Five had just headbutted him in the nose. If his nose was broken, Five was going to pay for it. 

"Fuuuuuuuuck, that hurt," Klaus holding his nose, and his eyes began to water from the pain. _and embarassment._

"Are you okay, brother? He wasn't being gentle to you, alright." Diego laughed. Annoyed, Klaus flashed his middle finger.

After concluding that Klaus did not break his nose, they returned their attention to the smallest brother, hands still clutching his head in pain. He was no longer hyperventilating but still breathing heavily. In. Out. In. Out.

A _nd he had finally stopped kicking me. Kicking bastard._

As if a cord was cut, Five fell backwards, hands at his sides, leaning heavily on Klaus.

"Dizzy."

Diego and Klaus looked at each other, uncertain on their next course of action. Should they call Grace? Let Five continue sleeping? Talk to him? He seemed lucid, right?

"I think we shou-", Klaus began to speak before another voice interrupted him.

"What". 

"What?" Klaus asked.

"What do you mean what?" Diego said, rather harshly.

"YOU asked me what first?!" Klaus also began to feel angry. It had been a long day/night/week/life for him and Diego was not making his life easy. Especially tonight. Scratch that. BOTH Five and Diego were NOT making his life easy. Sigh. He missed Ben.

Diego snarled in anger.

Suddenly, Five turned his body to the side, hands holding his stomach. They could see his throat- 

They came to the same conclusion.

"Quick, get the bucket!". 

They managed to get the it in time before Five spewed vomit into it. Or rather Five dry heaving into it. The boy barely ate anyway.

A few minutes passed and Five stopped vomiting, eyes closed. Maybe due to exhaustion. With a sad look, Klaus gently eased Five to lie down on his bed, and Diego took the vomit filled bucket to the nearest bathroom. 

Klaus was wiping Five's face with a wet cloth when his eyes opened. _Ahh_! Klaus jumped at the sudden motion, dramatically holding his heart. Again. 

_Warn a guy! One of these days, I'm definitely getting a heart attack.,_ thought Klaus, somberly.

Five continued to stare unblinkingly at Klaus, not saying anything. Then he stared at Diego, who was walking into the room, carrying the bucket.

"Who are you?" Five asked, confusion laced in his voice. 

_What._

"What?" Diego whispered, quickly sat down next to Klaus, before he continued. "What did he say?"

"Ummm...", Klaus began, with a worried look, "I think he was asking.... Hmm...maybe I heard him wrong?"

_He's looking at me weird._

_Great, now he's staring at my tattoos._

HELLO.

GOODBYE.

_Wait, is he laughing? Why on earth is he laughing?_

Five leaned forward. Both Klaus and Diego tensed. Without a warning, Five put his hands on Klaus' cheeks, and stared into his eyes. He still looked confused, both lucid and not lucid, but his eyes showed sadness.

 _Weird_.

On the level of comfortable to Holy Shit, what the fuck!, this was beyond their scale of weirdness. 

"What the fu-?", Diego breathed.

Five asked again, this time with more sadness in his eyes, "Who are you?". 

Klaus felt like crying. 

Forcing a smile, he replied, "It's me. I'm your brother, Klaus." Five just blinked. He then continued, "Can you hear me?". No response. Desperately, he turned to Diego,"I'm getting worried about him. Should qe get Mom? Should we get him to the hospital?".

With that, Five dropped his hands from Klaus' face and fell back to his pillow, eyes closed, sleeping again. Or passed out. Either or, Fice would rest more rest.

They decided to let him sleep. And that they were hopefully that whatever haplenedwas just temporary. 

"Let's get Mom. He needs to be rechecked, see if he had torn anything." Klaus nodded in agreement. Together, they began searching for Grace 

\--------

Five mumbling incoherently his sleep woke him up from his nap. His movements were getting more erratic. 

_Here we go again, he thought._

He glanced at Klaus, who was sleeping, his mouth opened, on the couch, snoring loudly. Diego sighed. 

"Five. Hey Number Five." His hands shaking Five's shoulders to calm him down.

To reassure him.

To comfort him.

And Five made a sound like a muffled sob. His face showed utter despair and sadness. 

"Maybe it's better if I die." Five whispered. 

Diego sat on the chair, shocked at Five's confession.

_Where did that come from?_

Angrily, he replied, "Hey, dont say that! How could you say that?".

_Why would he say that?_

"You sound angry. Why are you angry?" A confused Five questioned. 

God, he sounded really young when he asked that.

Diego took a deep breath.

"I'm not angry ok? Five, look at me! I am not angry at you, okay". He leaned towards Five, and put his arms around the smaller boy, in an brotherly embrace.

He was actually hugging Five. He couldn't believe it. He had never done that before, showed affection towards his brothers. Or hugged them.

"Please, just please dont ever, ever say that, please?". Diego rested his chin on top of Five's bandaged head..

"I can't do this alone," Five said, quietly sniffling in Diego's chest. 

Diego was stunned and speechless. He gulped before he replied, softly, "Yes, you can." He hugged Five even more tighter.

"Yeah, well, i dont want to,".

\------------------


End file.
